Tips & Tools

Downdraft sanding Table

I could never justify spending $800 to $2000 on something that didn't
add another capability to my shop, but once I figured out a way to build one for a much
lower cost, I realized it is worth whatever it costs. This table draws air down past your
face and the dust is drawn into the filter before it ever becomes airborne. It also works
as a good sized assembly table. If you don't have a filter, you'll be one. These are the
parts you have to buy:

Stock# 5w426---bag type
filter---$67.23Stock# 6c522--- pleated furnace
filter---$7.80Stock# 1w507---fiberglass air
filter---$2.41The stock numbers and prices are from
the W.W.Grainger catalogue. They are an industrial
supply house with warehouses in most major cities across the country. They sell wholsale
only so you'll have to find a hardware store to order through. The rest of the parts can
be free, or of very little cost, depending on how good you are at recycling (this used to
be called scrounging).1 squirrel cage fan with a
rating of 1200-1500 cfm or higher1 flush solid core
door. Some kind of non-marring grate material aprox.
24"x24"(I used an oak return air vent cover
from an old house)2-3 sheets 3/4" particle board
(depending on your table size)Misc. - caulk, hinges,
weather stripping, 12/2 wire, switch, outlets

The filter access door and the fan access panel must be weather stripped.
The filters slide in on the cleats shown in the filter tray access detail. Put the
fiberglass filter in the top tray, then the pleated filter, followed by the bag filter.
The cheaper filters on top catch the big chunks and replacing them prolongs the life of
the bag filter. Caulk all seams in the case construction to prevent air flow from anywhere
but the air intake on top of the table and the fan exhaust. Size the table according to
the size of your door but you must maintain the filter box inside dimensions of
25"x25" with 24" from cleat to case floor for the bag filter. Now even Bill
Clinton can sand and inhale.

If all this seems too complicated for you or if you have more
money than time, call the guys at WOODMARK in Bedford, Texas, 1-800-845-4400, they build a
Cadillac of a sanding table.

For an alternative somewhere in between try Duskits
of Martinsville VA . I wonder if those boys get front row seats to the
Nascar race when it comes to town.

Inter Shop Mobility

How do you transport sheet goods and large stacks of lumber from storage
rack, to saw, to shaper, to assembly table, to spray booth? I found the answer to this at
the hospital. The old style hospital gurney is the perfect height for moving those
cumbersome sheets from one place to another. They were designed to hold up to 400 pound
patients so you can stack a fair sized pile of lumber and move from one machine to another
without ever lifting the full weight of a single sheet.

Those adjustable height hospital tables are another item that's easily
adapted to wood shop use. With the addition of some caster wheels to the base and a
rolling conveyer section to the top, this piece of hospital equipment becomes the perfect
on or off feed assistant. Because of the design of the table the wheels come off the
ground when the table is raised so it won't roll around when in use amd because it's
adjustable, it will work on machines of different heights. When you want move it to
another position just crank it down. The wheels contact the floor and raise the legs up so
you can roll to the next location.Then there's the
glue pot caddy made from a portable oxygen cart. Hospitals and woodworking shops have one
thing in common-lots of equipment and heavy loads that need to be moved from one location
to another. So look around for some of that outdated hospital equipment and give it a new
life.

Tool Preferences

In buying tools for commercial use when I find a company that makes a
good procuct I tend to stick with that company. The majority of my hand held power tools
are Porter Cable. For the large power tools I have good luck with Delta. The tools are
only as good as the service center that repairs them so keep that in mind when buying from
that discount house that may save you $20 on the original purchase price.